Stories about Youth from July, 2011
Cuba: Approaching “Adulthood”
As her son approaches the age of majority, Generation Y says, “without maternal excess, that they are too young, too fragile, to face the burden of being considered adults by a legal system that does not correspond to international norms.”
Jamaica: BMW Owner Charged
Active Voice reports that the man who owns the BMW involved in a teen's killing has finally been charged by police, adding: “This case will go down in history as the one that completely exposed the fecklessness of Jamaican media.”
China: Bring Your Books to Rural Villages
A prominent Chinese scholar is encouraging netizens to "bring their books to the villages". Now a number of centres have been set up in cities across the country to handle the book donations and collect funds to go towards building libraries in rural areas.
Cuba: Killed for Stealing Fruit
“On the afternoon of July 15, 2011, the town of Mantilla…was shocked by the death of Angel Izquierdo Medina, a 14-year-old black teenager, who died from a gunshot to the femoral artery by Amado Interian, a retired police Major”: Laritza's Laws laments that the youth was killed for trying “to...
Chile: Students Take Over Schools Demanding Education Reform
Students have taken over hundreds of schools throughout Chile, turning their classrooms into temporary homes while they demand free and higher quality education. They are sharing their movement online through video and blogs, giving us a glimpse of what it is like to be on the inside of a student-controlled school.
Chile: Teen Warns About Earthquakes via Twitter (@AlarmaSismos)
TNW Latin America features the work of 14-year-old Sebastian Alegria (@sebasak), a Chilean teen sending earthquake warnings on Twitter through @AlarmaSismos: “The way it works is ingenious: Sebastian bought a domestic earthquake detector for only $75. He then replaced the internal circuit with an Arduino board which interprets the signal....
Costa Rica: Student Murdered in High School in Orotina
Julio Córdoba, in his blog Ciencia Ficción (Science Fiction), reflects [es] on the complex subject of violence after a student was murdered in a High School in Orotina on Monday, July 18.
Haiti: Student Murdered in DR
BELTIFI INC. republishes a news release about the murder of a Haitian student in the Dominican Republic, saying: “Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the Lindor family.”
Caribbean: Carnival in Toronto
The Caribbean Camera posts a photo album of the 2011 Kiddies Carnival Toronto Parade, here.
Lets Clean Bangladesh
The Dhaka Project (TDP) has launched a campaign called “Let's Clean Bangladesh”. On the 17th of July 2011 the TDP school team cleaned several streets in Dhaka to teach the community people to keep the society clean.
Cuba: Stowaway Dies
“There is no thermometer that measures human despair and each person has his own threshold of resistance”: Yoani Sanchez and Babalu blog about the sad fate of some who try to escape Cuba.
Laos: Vientiane Career Fair
Photos of the Vientiane Career Fair in Laos which took place this month have been uploaded on Facebook.
Bangladesh: Sexual Assault By A Teacher Triggers Student Uprising
The recent protests at the Viqarunnisa Noon School and College (VNC) in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, has stirred much buzz in the Bangladeshi blogosphere. After a three-fold campaign via Blogs, Facebook and street protests authorities were forced to sack and arrest a teacher accused of sexually molesting a student.
Germany: Rocking the Wall of the GDR
James Shingler at The View East writes about East German rock and pop music and its subvertive role in changing society during the 1970s and 1980s.
Morocco: A Personal Tale of Protest
The Moroccan pro-democracy movement known as February 20, struggles to communicate with the public amid a government-led campaign to discredit it. The movement primarily uses the Internet to explain its position and ideas. But it is the personal account of its own militants that impacts the wider public more starkly. Here is the moving story of one activist, Younes Loukili.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Sex Education
The public reaction to Abeni‘s T-shirt, emblazoned with the words “Sex nice, but de AIDS ting…”, leads her to conclude “that HIV education has to overcome so many prejudices. The reluctance to talk about sex in a holistic way forces the young and not so young to accept myths as...
South Sudan: Messages of #LoveFromSudan
On the eve of the independence of South Sudan, a group of young Sudanese started a movement that is trying to start a conversation between North and South to create mutual friendship between both sides and link young citizens of the two countries. The movement uses the hashtag #lovefromsudan.
Uzbekistan: World-known brands to denounce child labor
Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Eileen Fisher, Nautica, Gear for Sports, The Jones Group, Liz Claiborne and Nike are among the first companies to sign a pledge boycotting the use of Uzbekistan-sourced cotton until the International Labor Organization determines that forced child labor is no longer an issue in the country, reports Abulfazal.
Africa: Of Misunderstandings, the Best Laid Plans and Language Challenge
Find out about what's on the minds of a variety of African bloggers with Global Voices author Paula Odhiambo.
Nepal: Children Suffer In Patriarchal Society
“Our patriarchal structure of society has given men so freedom that women highly suffer from that, which means most children suffer. Most children suffer means most children do not get proper nutrition and care- forget about the health care and schooling. This eventually means the country hardly gets capable citizens,”...
Afghanistan: Underage girl used for a suicide bombing
Cassandra Clifford writes about a crying incident, in which a 9 years-old girl was kidnapped, drugged and forced to wear a detonation vest with orders to blow herself up in Afghanistan.